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Yahoo Messenger IM SDK Developer Terms of Use

Thank you for using the Yahoo Messenger IM software development kit (the "Yahoo Messenger IM SDK"). You must be aged 13 years or older and must possess your own valid Yahoo ID in order to accept this Yahoo Messenger IM SDK Developer Terms of Use (“TOU”).

PLEASE NOTE that the Guidelines contain implementation requirements and important restrictions with respect to rate limits and permitted territories for the program. Please read the Guidelines prior to accepting the SDK Documents.

Yahoo! Inc. ("Yahoo") reserves the right to update and change the SDK Documents from time-to-time, including posting new versions without notice to you. You can always find the most recent version of the SDK Documents at the links set forth above. Use of the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK after such change constitutes your acceptance of such changes.

Licensed Uses and Restrictions.

Yahoo owns the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK and Yahoo Messenger, Y-Bang, Smiley with Y-Bang, and Smiley Logos and licenses them to you on a worldwide (except for residents of, and sites or applications directed to users in, the United States or Canada) (the “Territory”), limited, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, revocable basis to create products and services (“Your Application”) pursuant to the terms of the SDK Documents. The TOU and Guidelines define permitted use of the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK, including for Your Application, and all updates, revisions, substitutions, and documentation related thereto. Yahoo reserves all rights not expressly granted to you.

Subject to the restrictions set forth in the SDK Documents, YOU MAY use the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK and any updates provided by Yahoo (in its sole discretion) and you shall only distribute Your Application in the Territory. Your license to the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK under this TOU continues until it is terminated by either party. You may terminate the license by discontinuing use of all or any of the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK. Yahoo may terminate the license at any time for any reason. This license terminates automatically if: (i) you violate any term of the SDK Documents, including failing to comply with the Guidelines; (ii) Yahoo publicly posts a written notice of termination on Yahoo's Web site; (iii) Yahoo sends a written notice of termination to you; or (iv) Yahoo ceases providing access to the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK to you. For purposes of clarity, termination of this license does not constitute termination of this TOU.

Any communication by you to Yahoo is subject to this TOU and the TOS, and you grant to Yahoo all rights to use and incorporate such contents in the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK or documentation, or any other Yahoo product or service without compensation to you and without further recourse by you.

Unless otherwise specified, use and redistribution of all computer code made available on the Yahoo Developer Network is permitted in source and binary forms, provided that the following conditions are met:

Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions, and the following disclaimer set forth in Section d below in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

Neither the name of Yahoo nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission of Yahoo.

DISCLAIMER TO BE INCLUDED WITH YAHOO! COMPUTER CODE:
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND BASED ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

If your product or service uses or is based upon the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK, then:

You shall comply with all instructions provided in the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK and its associated documentation on the Yahoo Developer Network to place application identification information (“API Key”) into any application or service you develop that incorporates or makes any use of the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK. You may only create a single API Key per application or service and such API Key must accompany all web services requests coming from that application or service. You can sign up for an API Key at http://developer.yahoo.com/dashboard/createKey.html for OAuth API Keys. You must provide accurate identification, contact, and other information required as part of the registration process. You SHALL NOT create any script or other automated tool that attempts to create multiple API Keys.

You represent and warrant to Yahoo that: (a) you will fully comply with all laws, regulations and ordinances; (b) you have the right to use, reproduce, transmit, copy, publicly display, publicly perform, and distribute any content, materials, trademarks, logos, or code made available to Yahoo and users of Your Application incorporating the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK in the manner contemplated under this Agreement (“Your Content”); and (c) that use by Yahoo or others of any of Your Content via the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK shall not violate the rights of any third party (e.g., copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, or other proprietary right of any person or entity), or any applicable regulation, ordinance or law, including, but not limited to, the laws of any country in which Your Content or service is made available.

You agree to comply with the export and import laws of the United States and other applicable countries. Without limiting the foregoing, You will: (i) comply with U.S. export and re-export controls; (ii) obtain all export and re-export licenses that may be required; and (iii) not export or re-export to any countries subject to U.S. embargo or trade sanctions or to entities identified on any U.S. governmental export exclusion lists, including, but not limited to, the Denied Persons List, Entity List, and Specially Designated Nationals List. As of the version date of this TOU, the countries subject to U.S. embargo or trade sanctions are: Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Sudan and Syria. You are responsible for complying with all updates and revisions that the U.S. Government may make to this list of prohibited export destinations.

You agree that Yahoo may maintain forums or sites allowing Yahoo registered users to rate, review, comment on and tag Your Content or Your Application.

Provided that you otherwise comply with the SDK Documents, You may use the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK in your commercial applications, and you may charge a monetary fee or other consideration to end users to use such commercial applications, provided any such fees, other consideration, or advertising complies with all applicable laws and appropriate practices and standards as determined by Yahoo in its sole discretion.

Your Application must utilize the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK in a manner that does not bypass the rate limits set forth in the Guidelines. In the event that Your Application exceeds said rate limit, you must either enter into a separate commercial agreement with Yahoo for use of the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK, or bring Your Application into compliance with the rate limit.

YOU SHALL NOT:

Use the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK in connection with or to promote any products, services, advertisements or materials that constitute, promote or are used primarily for the purpose of dealing in: illegal items, products or services, spyware, adware, or other malicious programs or code, counterfeit goods, items subject to US embargo, hate materials (e.g. Nazi memorabilia) or materials urging acts of terrorism or violence, goods made from protected animal/plant species, recalled goods, any hacking, surveillance, interception, or descrambling equipment, cigarettes, illegal drugs and paraphernalia, unlicensed sale of prescription drugs and medical devices, pornography, prostitution, body parts and bodily fluids, stolen products and items used for theft, fireworks, explosives, and hazardous materials, government IDs, police items, unlicensed trade or dealing in stocks and securities, gambling items, professional services regulated by state licensing regimes, non-transferable items such as airline tickets or event tickets, non-packaged food items, weapons and accessories;

Use the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK in any manner or for any purpose that violates any law, ordinance, or regulation, any right of any person, including, but not limited to, intellectual property rights, rights of privacy, or rights of personality, or in any manner inconsistent with the SDK Documents;

Use the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK to operate nuclear facilities, life support, or any other mission critical application where human life or property may be at stake. You understand that the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK is not designed for such purposes and that their failure in such cases could lead to death, personal injury, or severe property or environmental damage for which Yahoo is not responsible;

Use the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK in a manner that exceeds reasonable request volume, constitutes excessive or abusive usage, or otherwise fails to comply or is inconsistent with any part of the Guidelines or appropriate practices and standards as determined by Yahoo in its sole discretion;

Security. Your Application must authenticate your access to the Yahoo IM network and read or write information from or to Yahoo user accounts through the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK using only OAuth Authorization. The terms of this Section 1(h) applies to your use of OAuth Authentication.

Yahoo takes end user security and privacy very seriously, and you agree to give us all necessary assistance for the operation of Your Application in compliance with this TOU and any applicable laws.

Securing User Consent. You are solely responsible for securing clear, express consent from the user, granting you permission to access such user’s Yahoo account using OAuth Authorization-enabled APIs, including if applicable, retrieving user-specific information, or writing information to such user’s account. You will strictly comply with the scope of express consent that such users granted you when accessing their Yahoo accounts.

Contact and Cooperation. You (or the name of the contact you gave to Yahoo when you applied for your API Key for review if it is not you) must be reachable at all times for security questions or concerns. You can change this name or contact by signing up for a new API Key, and providing the correct contact information and using the new API Key instead.

Virus Precautions. All materials, including software and documents, that you provide to Yahoo, must be checked by you with Internet industry standard up-to-date antivirus and anti-worm software and determined to be virus-free and worm-free. Any data provided to Yahoo must not contain harmful scripts or code.

Industry Standards. Your Application, networks, operating system and software, web server(s), routers, databases, and computer systems (collectively, “System” or “Systems”) must be properly configured to Internet industry standards, as required to securely operate Your Application. If you do not completely control any aspect of the System, you will use all control or influence that you have over such Systems, and you will not architect or select Systems in a manner to avoid the foregoing obligation. An example of an unacceptable server is one that operates as open proxy. An example of architecting in an unacceptable manner would be if you select a server operated by a vendor with substandard security practices, so that you could contend that you do not control such server, in order to avoid having to select an acceptable server.

Reporting. You must promptly report any security deficiencies in or intrusions to your Systems to Yahoo in writing via email to ynoc@yahoo-inc.com. You will work with Yahoo to immediately correct any security deficiency, and will disconnect immediately any intrusions or intruder. In the event of any such security deficiency or intrusion, you will make no public statements (i.e. press, blogs, bulletin boards, etc.) without prior written and express permission from Yahoo in each instance.

Access Control to Systems. To the extent you have control or influence over the Systems, you will log (in a time and date-stamped fashion) all instances of access to the Systems. You will encrypt the password and username files for the Systems that store or process any Yahoo user data that you are permitted by Yahoo to access. Passwords must be unique, unintuitive, and changed often. You will minimize access to and use of the passwords. Wherever possible, commands which require additional privileges should be securely logged (with time and date) to enable a complete audit trail of activities. When an individual terminates his or her employment with you, his or her passwords and access password facilities must be terminated immediately.

Security Reviews. Yahoo will have the right, at its own expense, to inspect and review, or to have an independent third party that is not your competitor, to inspect and review your compliance with these security provisions. You will (at your own expense) correct any security flaws detected by such a review as soon as possible. You will then promptly certify to Yahoo in writing that the security flaw has been corrected, along with a description of the corrective action(s) taken. Yahoo will give you 48 hours notice before conducting such a review, and may conduct no more than four reviews annually. Any such review will be conducted during regular business hours in such a manner as not to interfere with normal business activities. If a review reveals a material breach of any of these security provisions, you will reimburse Yahoo for the reasonable costs of the review.

Yahoo Review of Your Application. At Yahoo’s request, you must submit Your Application to Yahoo for review for purposes of Yahoo determining whether Your Application complies with the SDK Documents. If Your Application does not comply with the SDK Documents, you will correct (at your own expense) any issues as soon as possible. Yahoo may terminate this license and your (and Your Application’s) use of the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK at any time for any reason, including non-compliance with the SDK Documents.

Data Collection, Storage, and Use.

You may not retain or use, and must immediately remove from any application and any data repository in your possession or under your control any Yahoo user data obtained through the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK not explicitly identified as being storable indefinitely in the SDK Documents within 24 hours after the time at which you obtained the data, or such other time as Yahoo may specify to you from time to time, including pursuant to notification received from application uninstall event handlers.

You may not, and may not allow third parties to, store, collect, monitor, or scan any Yahoo user data transmitted via the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK. Further, you shall not disclose any Yahoo user data to any third parties, including government or law enforcement entities, without Yahoo’s prior written consent.

Ownership.

The Yahoo Messenger IM SDK is protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, international treaties, and/or other proprietary rights and laws of the U.S. and other countries. Yahoo's rights apply to the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK and all output and executables of the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK, excluding any software components developed by you which do not themselves incorporate the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK or any output or executables of the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK. You agree to abide by all applicable proprietary rights laws and other laws, as well as any additional copyright notices or restrictions contained in the SDK Documents. Yahoo owns all rights, title, and interest in and to the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK. These TOU grant you no right, title, or interest in any intellectual property owned or licensed by Yahoo, including, but not limited to, the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK, Yahoo emoticons, Yahoo logos, and Yahoo trademarks, unless otherwise specified herein.

Support.

Yahoo may elect to provide you with support or modifications for the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK (collectively, "Support"), in its sole discretion, and may terminate such Support at any time without notice to you. Yahoo may change, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK at any time, including the availability of any Yahoo Messenger IM SDK. Yahoo may also impose limits on certain features and services or restrict your access to parts or all of the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK.

Fees and Payments.

Yahoo reserves the right to charge fees for future use of or access to the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK and the Yahoo services and Web sites (collectively, "Yahoo Messenger IM SDK Services") in Yahoo's sole discretion. If Yahoo decides to charge for the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK Services, Yahoo will provide you prior notice of such charges.

Disclaimer of Any Warranty.

YAHOO! DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THE YAHOO! MESSENGER IM SDK IS FREE OF INACCURACIES, ERRORS, BUGS, OR INTERRUPTIONS, OR IS RELIABLE, ACCURATE, COMPLETE, OR OTHERWISE VALID. YAHOO PROVIDES THE YAHOO! MESSENGER IM SDK "AS IS" WITH NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, OF ANY KIND AND YAHOO! EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AVAILABILITY, SECURITY, TITLE AND/OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. YOUR USE OF THE YAHOO! MESSENGER IM SDK IS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK, AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE THAT RESULTS FROM THE USE OF THE YAHOO! MESSENGER IM SDK INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA.

Limitation of Liability.

YAHOO! SHALL NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH USE OF THE YAHOO! MESSENGER IM SDK, WHETHER BASED ON BREACH OF CONTRACT, BREACH OF WARRANTY, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, PRODUCT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE), OR ANY OTHER PECUNIARY LOSS, WHETHER OR NOT YAHOO! HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL YAHOO! BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY AMOUNT.

Exclusions and Limitations.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES OR THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR CERTAIN DAMAGES. ACCORDINGLY, SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OF SECTIONS 6 AND 7 MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Release and Waiver.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you hereby release and waive all claims against Yahoo, and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, licensors, co-branders or other partners, and employees from any and all liability for claims, damages (actual and/or consequential), costs and expenses (including litigation costs and attorneys' fees) of every kind and nature, arising from or in any way related to your use of the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK. You understand that any fact relating to any matter covered by this release may be found to be other than now believed to be true and you accept and assume the risk of such possible differences in fact. In addition, you expressly waive and relinquish any and all rights and benefits that you may have under any other state or federal statute or common law principle of similar effect, to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Hold Harmless and Indemnity.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to defend, hold harmless and indemnify Yahoo and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, licensors, co-branders or other partners, and employees from and against any third party claim arising from or in any way related to your violation of the SDK Documents or your use of the Yahoo Messenger IM SDK (including Your Application and Your Content), including any liability or expense arising from all claims, losses, damages (actual and/or consequential), suits, judgments, litigation costs and attorneys' fees, of every kind and nature. Yahoo shall use good faith efforts to provide you with written notice of such claim, suit or action.

General Terms.

Relationship of the Parties. Notwithstanding any provision hereof, for all purposes of the SDK Documents, you and Yahoo shall be and act independently and not as partner, joint venture, agent, employee or employer of the other. You shall not have any authority to assume or create any obligation for or on behalf of Yahoo, express or implied, and you shall not attempt to bind Yahoo to any contract.

Invalidity of Specific Terms. If any provision of the SDK Documents is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision and the other provisions of such documents remain in full force and effect.

Location of Lawsuit and Choice of Law. The SDK Documents and the relationship between you and Yahoo shall be governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and Yahoo agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the courts located within the county of Santa Clara, California.

No Waiver of Rights by Yahoo. Yahoo's failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the SDK Documents shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

Miscellaneous. The section headings and subheadings contained in this agreement are included for convenience only, and shall not limit or otherwise affect the terms of the SDK Documents. Any construction or interpretation to be made of the SDK Documents shall not be construed against the drafter. The SDK Documents constitute the entire agreement between Yahoo and you with respect to the subject matter hereof.